JUST IN: Speaker Johnson Calls on Secret Service Director to Resign

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump .

On Saturday, Thomas Matthew Crooks , 20, climbed on top of a roof outside the security perimeter during Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania Saturday and fired multiple shots , hitting the former president in the ear, killing one rally attendee and wounding two others. Trump’s personal detail swiftly surrounded him and after Secret Service snipers returned fire and shot and killed Crooks, Trump was escorted off the stage and then driven to a local medical facility where his wounds were treated.

In the aftermath of the shooting, many critics have raised questions about the Secret Service’s security preparations and response during the rally, especially regarding the building from which Crooks fired his weapon, why there were no agents on the roof or otherwise securing a building that was so close to the outdoor stage where a former president was speaking, why alerts from bystanders about a man with a gun did not result in a swifter response, and so on.

Wednesday morning, Johnson spoke to Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and shared his thoughts about the need for “accountability” regarding the security failures that led to the assassination attempt.

Johnson vowed that the House would “move quickly” and said he was setting up a “special task force” that would have subpoena authority and would include both Republicans and Democrats so “the American people can get the answers that they deserve.”

There were “real questions” but “the answers have not been forthcoming,” said Johnson about his recent conversations with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas , FBI Director Christopher Wray , and other national intelligence officials.

“We have to have accountability for this,” said Johnson. “It was inexcusable. Obviously, there were security lapses. You don’t have to be a special ops expert to understand that, and we’re gonna get down to the bottom of it quickly.”

“Do you think the U.S. Secret Service Director should resign?” asked Perino.

“I’m going to call for her resignation as well,” he replied. “Look, I think it’s inexcusable. Just — beyond the classified parts, the things that we all understand. Her explanation to the media that there was a slant on the roof so there was safety concerns?”

“There was a slant for the shooter, too,” Perino pointed out.

“Come on,” Johnson agreed. “It doesn’t wash. I think she has shown what her priorities are. I don’t know her, personally, but we’ll ask lots of questions.”

The speaker added that he had not yet spoken to Cheatle but he was hopeful that she would show up to the hearing scheduled on Monday, although he was hearing “rumblings” that Majorkas “may not allow her to attend.”

Johnson added that he was coordinating with the chairs of the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees for their hearings and the task force he was setting up, and vowed to “streamline this thing and move it quickly.”

Hemmer commented that Congress was not exactly known for doing things “quickly” and asked for clarification. Johnson replied that they wouldn’t be needing to have the full procedural due process and steps like a “full committee hearing,” and this situation involved “a finite set of facts” and an “important set of answers that we need to obtain, and we will do it quickly and in the most efficient way possible.”

“And there’s plenty of evidence now, with the cell phones,” said Perino. “It’s not like 1963 where it took 44 weeks to do an investigation as to what happened to John F. Kennedy .”

“Great point,” said Johnson.

Watch the clip above via Fox News .